@BCHjeepney project keeps rolling: new website and expansion plans

The world’s first #InitialJeepneyOffering runs the streets of Manila.

In an article by Frank Schuengel, photos of the BCH jeepney gracing the streets of Manila shows it in action. The Bitcoin Cash Jeepney, or BCH Jeepney, started out as some simple mind musings of an InitialLamborghiniOffering, a humourous take on the initial coin offering (ICO), which then evolved into an #InitialJeepneyOffering.

Led by masterminds going behind the aliases “MrG,” “WildCard,” and “MrSkatman,” the project was initially funded by 20 Bitcoin Cash supporters, each contributing 0.5 BCH—with hopefully more to come, as the project gains more traction. As witty as their #InitialJeepneyOffering hash tag is, so is its contributor perk: interested contributors become literal “chairholders,” since every contributor is “funding a chair” in the jeepney.

The team recently launched a website, and hints at growing the fleet and filling Metro Manila’s streets with BCH accepting jeepneys.

The appeal seems to mesh together something so technologically advanced as blockchain, with something that has long been associated with culture.

Photo By: Frank Schuengel

The test pilot vehicle, aptly called “Gen” as it is the genesis jeepney, also showed up at last month’s Bitcoin Cash Social, the first BCH meetup organized by CoinGeek.

The project aims to install RFID payment systems into jeepneys, which are among the most common public transportation methods in the country. The plan also includes installing free Wi-Fi to support the transactions within the vehicle. Should niftier payment methods for transport become available—such as a transportation card much like those used in trains, this could ease up payments and keep people from having to carry coins around. Not to mention the signature music experience jeepneys are known for.

“We offer a digital music experiance [sic] with a little taste of paradise. We accept Bitcoin Cash as payment and all are one of the only Jeepney on the road that has FREE WIFI. Thats right FREE WIFI to do all your instant transactions while traveling from place to place,” they wrote in their website.

Photo By: Frank Schuengel

While the project is starting out small, it serves as a creative, real-world demonstration of how easy it is to integrate cryptocurrencies into day-to-day activities, and gain mainstream adoption specifically for micro-payments. Jeepney fares in the Philippines start out at PHP 8, which is around $0.15. The Bitcoin Cash artwork adorning the jeepney would undoubtedly help embed BCH into mainstream memory, especially since it moves around from the streets of Quezon City to the old city of Manila.

To learn more about what they do, you can follow them on Twitter: @BCHjeepney.

Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BSV is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.